Manufacturing of field emission display screens by application of phosphor particles and conductive binders

ABSTRACT

Conductive or semiconductive binders, both inorganic and organic, are used for providing sufficient binding action to hold powder phosphor particles together, as well as to the glass screen of a field emission display device.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/054,552 filed Apr. 3, 1998, now abandoned, which is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/587,722 filed Jan. 19, 1996, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,744,907 issued Apr. 28, 1998, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

This invention was made with Government support under Contract No. DABT63-93-C-0025, awarded by the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA). The Government has certain rights in this invention.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to an improvement in the binding of phosphors to the display screen of field emission displays and, in particular, to the use of inorganic and organic binder materials that may be either conductive or semi-conductive.

Field emission display (FED) technology utilizes a matrix addressable array of pointed, thin film, cold field emission cathodes in combination with a phosphor luminescent screen, as represented, for example, by U.S. Pat. No. 5,210,472, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. An emissive flat panel display operates on the principles of cathodoluminescent phosphors excited by cold cathode field emission electrons. A faceplate having a cathodoluminescent phosphor coating, similar to that of a cathode ray tube, receives patterned electron bombardment from an opposing baseplate thereby providing a light image that can be seen by a viewer. The faceplate is separated from the base plate by a narrow vacuum gap. Arrays of electron emission sites (emitters) are typically sharp cones on the cathode that produce electron emission in the presence of an intense electric field. A positive voltage is applied to an extraction grid, relative to the sharp emitters, to provide the intense electric field required for generating cold cathode electron emission. Prior art FIG. 1 is a photocopy of FIG. 1 of the above-referenced U.S. Pat. No. 5,210,472. FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of the baseplate of a field emission display. As shown, the baseplate includes a plurality of base electrode strips 12A–12C, and a plurality of grid electrode strips 11A–11C. A plurality of field emission cathodes, or emitters, 13 are disposed on the base electrode. The tip of each emitter is surrounded by a grid strip aperture 14. In operation, voltages applied to the base electrode and the grid electrode cause selected emitters to emit electrons that travel towards a faceplate.

FEDs are less tolerant to particle shedding from the faceplate than CRTs and, thus, excellent and repeatable adhesion and faceplate integrity are required. The cathode of the field emission display is in very close proximity to the faceplate and is sensitive to any electronegative chemicals arriving on the cold cathode emitter surfaces, which could absorb them and increase the value of the emitter work function. Typically, FEDs are operated at anode voltages well below those of conventional CRTs. The material properties of the surface, distance along the surface, and changes in the orientation of the surface relative to a straight line between the two voltage nodes determine the voltage at which flashover between the cathode and faceplate occurs. Because FEDs employ lower anode voltages, phosphor material screening and the process of binding them to each other and to the faceplate have to be optimized and tightly controlled to minimize the dead layer and allow for effective excitation of the phosphor. Most phosphor lifetimes are largely determined by the total accumulated charge delivered per unit area through the life of the display.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the use of binders, both inorganic and organic, for providing sufficient binding action to hold powder phosphor particles together, as well as on a glass screen of a field emission display. The binder materials can be either conductive or semi-conductive in nature.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of the baseplate of a prior art field emission display; and

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of a field emission display constructed according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF AN ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENT

Field emission displays emit visible light following excitation of a phosphor screen via electrons from a cold cathode based on either silicon (Si), molybdenum (Mo), tungsten (W), etc., microtips. As the phosphor-coated screen is in very close proximity with the microtips, any particles which come loose from the phosphor screen could cause fatal damage to the tips or shorting. As such, the present invention proposes the use of binders, both inorganic and organic, for providing sufficient binding action to hold the powder phosphor particles together, as well as on a glass screen. Furthermore, as the phosphor screen of a field emission display is not normally aluminized, as are most cathode ray tubes, there is a possibility of space charge build up that can lead to a decreased luminescent efficiency. Thus, the present invention further proposes that the binder materials used be of a conductive or a semi-conductive nature to eliminate this problem.

Preferably, the binder, according to the present invention, is polyvinyl alcohol, potassium silicate, ammonium silicate, or it may be such that heating the phosphor/binder screen yields a conductive binder, e.g., tin (II) 2-ethylhexanoate, tin (IV) isopropoxide, tin (II) oxalate, titanium (IV) ethoxide, zinc 2,4-pentane dionate, zinc acetate, zinc oxalate. Suitable binder materials include poly(propylene carbonate), poly(propylene carbonate) and poly(ethylene carbonate) sold by PAC Polymers, Inc. of Greenville, Del. as QPAC-40 Emulsion, QPAC-40 and QPAC-25, respectively.

For these compounds, a simple heating process removes the organics and leaves behind a conducting or semiconducting oxide that binds the phosphor particles to each other and to the glass screen. The glass screen is normally coated with transparent conducting film, such as indium tin oxide (ITO), zinc oxide (ZnO), tin oxide (SnO₂) with antimony (Sb) doping, cadmium oxide (CdO), cadmium tin oxide Cd₂SnO₄, cadmium stannate, etc.

In general, these organometallic compounds would be from the following group: cadmium (Cd), titanium (Ti), zinc (Zn), tin (Sn), indium (In), antimony (Sb), tungsten (W), niobium (Nb), etc., which would form conductive and semiconductive oxides when heated. In addition, these oxides are preferably transparent.

Three phosphors (green, red, and blue) are applied to the faceplate in separate (wet application, i.e., as a slurry or electrophoresis or dry application, i.e., as a powder on a wetted faceplate) operations. The phosphor particles range in size from 1 to 5 μm in diameter and are coated to a thickness of 1–10 μm, or 1–3 particles deep. The subject binders are applied with or after the phosphors in a similar wet operation.

The preferred method for applying these binders is by spray coating or by adding to the phosphor material during its deposition.

In another embodiment, the anode may be patterned with a mask, such as photoresist, to prevent accumulation of the conductive binder in unwanted areas, such as between conductive traces.

The binding material is heat treated to temperatures in the range of to 20° C. to 600° C. for a period of from 2 to 200 minutes under pressures of from 760 to 10⁻⁶ Torr in an atmosphere of air or somewhat reducing atmosphere, depending on the type of binder.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of a portion of a field emission display 100. Display 100 includes a baseplate 110 of the type shown in FIG. 1 having conical emitters. Display 100 also includes a faceplate 120. Faceplate 120 includes a glass screen 122. As stated above, the glass screen 122 is normally coated with a transparent conducting film 124 such as ITO. Faceplate 120 also includes a layer 126 of phosphor and binder material. The binder material holds the phosphor particles together as well as to the faceplate.

The present invention may be subject to many modifications and changes without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiment should, therefore, be considered in all respects as being illustrative and not restrictive of the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. 

1. A method for forming an improved field emission display device, comprising the steps of: providing a screen; and simultaneously applying a phosphor material on said screen, said binder material holding said phosphor material to said screen, said binder material comprising a conductive material.
 2. A method according to claim 1, wherein said binder material is selected from the group consisting of: tin (II) 2-ethylhexanoate, tin (IV) isopropoxide, tin (II) oxalate, titanium (IV) ethoxide, zinc 2,4-pentane dionate, zinc acetate, and zinc oxalate.
 3. A method according to claim 1, wherein said binder material is selected from the group consisting of: poly(propylene carbonate) and poly(ethylene carbonate).
 4. A method according to claim 1, wherein the screen is coated with transparent conducting film selected from the group consisting of: indium tin oxide (ITO), zinc oxide (ZnO), tin oxide (SnO₂) doped with antimony (Sb), cadmium oxide (CdO), and cadmium tin oxide (cadmium stannate) Cd₂SnO₄.
 5. A method according to claim 1, wherein the binder material is an organometallic compound selected from the group consisting of: cadmium (Cd), titanium (Ti), zinc (Zn), tin (Sn), indium (In), antimony (Sb), tungsten (W), niobium (Nb), further comprising the step of heating said binder material to form conductive and/or semiconductive oxides.
 6. A method according to claim 1 wherein said binder material is transparent.
 7. A method according to claim 1, wherein said binder material is heated to remove any organics and leave behind a conducting or semiconducting oxide which binds the phosphor particles to each other and to the screen.
 8. A method for forming a field emission display device, comprising: providing a faceplate comprising a transparent screen having at least one side; applying a transparent conductor to said side of said screen; simultaneously applying a layer of phosphor and conductive binder material to said transparent conductor, said binder material holding said phosphor to said transparent conductor; providing a baseplate comprising: a base electrode; a plurality of conical field emission cathodes having a base and a tip, the bases of said field emission cathodes being disposed on said base electrode; and a grid electrode disposed proximally to the tips of said field emission cathodes; positioning the baseplate proximal said side of said screen so that said baseplate is spaced apart from said faceplate; and providing a vacuum gap between said faceplate and said baseplate. 